


We Know Where We Come From

by WildflowerWoods



Series: Cryptid Black Bulls [4]
Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29375274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildflowerWoods/pseuds/WildflowerWoods
Summary: The last thing anyone really expected to see at the Royal Knight Exam was a group of Black Bulls. The mysterious squad kept themselves to themselves, often refusing to so much as acknowledge anyone outside their squad, never mind work with them. because of this, the majority of the Magic Knights weren't entirely sure what to do with the information that some of them would be teamed up with various members of the Black Bulls for the rest of the day.With teams handpicked by the Wizard King, theoretically, everyone has a chance at winning.Not everyone is actually happy with the teams they're on though, and, with five Black Bulls in the mix, nobody really knows what to prepare for.They haven't even been at the exams an hour yet and Finral already wants to go home.
Relationships: Finral Roulacase & Langris Vaude, Magna Swing & Luck Voltia
Series: Cryptid Black Bulls [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126286
Comments: 58
Kudos: 128





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Bit shorter than my usual first chapters, but I felt like this was a good place to break it off.

_It is important that we know where we come from, because if you don't know where you come from, you don't know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, you don't know where you're going. And if you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong. - Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight_

* * *

Julius smiled as he walked out onto the balcony, Marx right behind him. Finally, they were taking steps to get rid of the Eye of the Midnight Sun for once and for all. Yami's squad had done well to get rid of two of the members of the Third Eye, but Julius wasn't about to send them up against the enemy at their own hideout.

"I'm glad you are all able to attend." He said, looking out over the gathered crowd of Magic Knights, picking out several of the golden robes William's squad wore as well as a small cluster of black hoods towards the back. He'd have to do something about that, the Black Bulls trying to keep themselves mysterious during the test would only hinder rather than help. "Without further ado, I'd like to commence with the Royal Knights Selection Test."

"Allow _me_ to explain the test in detail," Agustus said, following him out onto the balcony. Julius nodded, taking a step back so that the king could have the full attention of the Magic Knights. "The Royal Knights will be _my_ warriors, will they not?" Julius already had a good idea of who would and wouldn't do well in the tournament based on the teams alone and he had a feeling that Agustus wouldn't like several of the final candidates.

Marx hadn't exactly been wrong when he'd made comments about Julius stacking the deck in certain places, breaking his own unofficial rules to pair together some people who had the potential to be unstoppable as long as they could get their heads on straight and actually work with each other.

* * *

"Now, this event is a competition of teams!" the king announced, like he'd made a revolutionary proclamation. Finral wasn't sure whether teams were a good thing or not. A team competition most likely meant that the different squads would be mixed together, with no two members from any one squad on the same team, which meant that there would probably be nobody on the field capable of stopping Luck from going wild when it was his turn to fight. God help them all if Magna and Luck ended up against each other, neither of them knew how to back down, there'd be nothing left of the field by the time they were done if they were allowed to go all-out. "And it shall be called the Magic Crystal Destruction Battle Tournament!" well, that was one of the dumbest names for something Finral had ever heard.

"They're putting us on teams?" Noelle asked, and she was already looking around at the other Magic Knights. Several people were already staring at the hooded Bulls. Finral couldn't say that he was surprised. They were the unknown variables, after all. The other squads all trained together regularly or at least worked together on missions often enough. The other eight squads all had a good idea of what the majority of their various members were capable of. The Black Bulls kept themselves to themselves, if only on Yami's orders in some cases, and as such were a complete mystery. Nobody even knew how many members they actually had, never mind what they could do.

"I thought for sure it'd be every man for himself," Asta said, frowning slightly. "I hope this isn't complicated." Great. Now there were even more people watching them. Finral was just glad that the other four wouldn't be his responsibility for the duration of the tournament. He had no doubt that Noelle would be perfectly behaved, it was Asta, Magna and Luck that he was worried about.

"There's a crystal?" Luck asked, seemingly not even registering the stares. Not all that surprising, some days it seemed like he only had eyes for Magna, completely ignoring the rest of them, never mind anyone _outside_ the squad. If they weren't strong, more often than not, Luck wanted nothing to do with them. Finral frowned slightly. Luck's reputation proceeded him but for the rest of them, their status as unknowns was both an advantage and a disadvantage in team battles when they were working with people who weren't Black Bulls. On the one hand, their opponents didn't really know what to watch for. No the other hand, neither did their teammates. There was always a chance that they'd be a team and the unknown factor wouldn't be an issue, but Finral highly doubted that they'd be allowed to work together.

"Yeah, but what are the rules?" Magna was the last to speak, actually asking a sensible question for once. Sending any of the Black Bulls out without at least a few instructions was a recipe for disaster. The Wizard king wouldn't send them out to fight without at least laying down _some_ rules first, would he?

"The rules are very simple," the king stated, like he'd heard Magna's question. He hadn't even started explaining but Finral already knew one thing, this probably wasn't going to end well. "whichever team is successful in destroying the opposing team's crystal, while simultaneously protecting their own crystal from being destroyed, will be considered victorious," well, that was surprisingly simple. Good. While he may not be the one keeping them under control for the rest of the day, Finral knew that trying to do anything with overly complicated rules when the Black Bulls were involved always ended in disaster. Always. "if both crystals remain intact at the end of the thirty-minute time limit, then the team whose crystal has taken the least amount of damage will be the winners." the king paused "erm, the reason we chose this method was because it, um, well..." Finral wasn't sure who he was trying to fool. Every Magic Knight present knew it was the Wizard King who had come up with the idea for the exam and put it all into motion, not the self-absorbed monarch. "that is... I know it was something good." next to the king, the Wizard King cleared his throat.

"When facing the Eye of the Midnight Sun, it is imperative that the members of all the different Magic Knight Squads are able to cooperate." the Wizard King announced "we feel that a team contest is the best way to judge your ability to work well with others as well as your strategic proficiency. There's much more to being a Royal Knight than brute strength or levels of mana." the Wizard King paused and Finral just knew that he was looking at them "and, with that in mind, I'd like to asked the competing Black Bulls to lower their hoods for the duration of the tournament." and there it was. It made sense, it was hard to trust someone when their face couldn't be seen, but it went against pretty much every rule about secrecy Yami had, it went against everything he'd spent the past six years doing. Sure, the hoods made it hard to flirt but wearing the robe with the hood down outside the base just- wasn't something they did. It felt wrong.

"Finral?" Asta asked, right. He was the senior member of the squad, they were all looking to him for guidance on what to do.

"You heard him," Finral said, smiling at his squad as he pulled his hood down. He didn't like it, but not even Yami would go against the Wizard King. Thankfully, none of them commented on his new hairstyle, though he just knew they'd say something the moment they got back to base. Magna and Luck never missed an opportunity to make fun of someone. "we're supposed to be working with the other squads. Can't really do that if we're hiding our faces."

"This'll make fighting everyone so much easier!" Luck cheered, letting his hood drop as he bounced on his toes. Well, it was Magna's robe really, but Luck was the one wearing it. He could tell from all the scorch marks. The two had mixed up their robes at the Star Festival during the squad's collective panic and confusion over coming second while they rushed to get sorted before the Wizard King asked for any of them to come out onto the stage. Luck had refused to give it back. Magna had had to go get a new robe off Vanessa, who'd handed it over without having to be asked. It wasn't the first time Luck had 'borrowed' Magna's robe, refusing to give it back, and after the third time, Vanessa had started keeping a spare around for when it inevitably happened again.

"I can't wait to kick your ass," Magna said, glaring at Luck as he yanked his own hood off, almost knocking his glasses off in the process. "you're going down!" clearly the fire mage was still annoyed about losing the fight Luck insisted they have over who got to keep Magna's robe. Finral was sure he'd never understand what was going on with those two. In all honesty, he didn't think that _they_ knew what was going on between them half the time.

He could hear the whispers, people trying to match names to them, trying to figure out what they could do. The most common reaction though, seemed to be people horrified about the fact that they might have to fight Luck the Cheery Berserker.

"Thank you." The Wizard King said, drawing Finral out of his thoughts "now then, let us reveal the team roster!" He smirked as he read over the teams, some of them promised to be very entertaining.

 _Asta of Hage, Sol Marron, Xerx Lugner_. Finral had never met the Vice-Captain of the Purple Orcas but he was known as the Saint of Pure ice and apparently very full of himself. And the Blue Rose Knight, Sol, didn't like working with men. That team would either win or crash and burn. Those were the only options.

 _Noelle Silva, Yuno of Hage and En Ringard._ Noelle was with Asta's childhood friend. That should be interesting. He didn't really know much about the Green Praying Mantis on their team, though he had heard that the man used fungus magic.

 _Luck Voltia, Klaus Lunettes and X._ Finral felt sorry for Klaus, as the person that had to wrangle Luck, but he couldn't deny that he was curious to know who this 'X' was.

 _Magna Swing, Mimosa Vermillion and Sekke Bronzazza._ Magna with a plant wielding royal? That should be entertaining at least. He didn't recognise the third name on their team though.

Finral's smile vanished and he felt his heart sink as he spotted his own name, or rather, the one right beneath it. Of all the people to be teamed up with.

"Hey, isn't that-" Magna started, clearly having seen the exact same thing he had. There, on the last team, _Finral Roulacase, Fragil Tormenta and-_

"Nii-San." A cold voice stated from behind them, interrupting Magna. _Finral Roulacase, Fragil Tormenta and Langris Vaude._

"Hey, Langris," Finral said, turning to face his little brother. He looked better than he had in Kiten, less like he'd been dragged to the border without any warning at all. His eyes were still full of contempt, though. He was still looking down on Finral.

"Try not to be a complete failure," he said, voice cold and full of something Finral couldn't name, a cross between anger and sadness with a little bit of badly hidden hurt thrown in under all the disdain. "and stay out of my way. I'd hate to accidentally hit you." Finral scowled at the words. He was done sitting back and letting others insult him and his squad. He'd nearly died in the Underwater Temple. He _had_ died in the Witches Forest, Vannessa's miracle fate-changing cat the only reason he was still alive.

"I'm not just going to sit back and let you do everything Langris. We're a team. We have to work together." he said, "we won't win otherwise."

"Fine. I suppose I can put up with your incompetence for one day if it helps me win." It was a shame they were on the same team because, at that current point in time, for the first time, Finral was really tempted to start a fight.

Unfortunately, punching his little brother in the face wasn't something that would be looked kindly upon, even if said little brother deserved it.

* * *

In Magna's opinion, Cob's portals had absolutely nothing on Finral's. What was the point in those giant, gaudy, overly ornate doors anyway? They were a waste of time as far as Magna was concerned. The obnoxious things had to make getting anywhere quickly and quietly a nightmare. He was willing to admit that their squad wasn't very good at being quiet, but at least they could move unseen when they had to. Occasionally.

The destination was impressive though, Magna had to admit that. A wide range of places to fight, from water to trees to cliffs to wide open fields, so everybody had a chance to shine. Though, he had to wonder how easy the grass and trees would be to set on fire.

"So that magic crystal destruction battle tournament or whatever is supposed to happen here?" Asta asked, looking out over the admittedly impressive Landscape with wide eyes. "It's huge!" Magna wasn't too sure why _Asta_ was impressed though. Hage was right out near the demon bones and they looking intimidating miles away in Rayaka, never mind up close. Asta had to have seen more impressive sights out there.

"This vast and varied environment will be your battle stage," the Wizard King announced as he came through the portal, the official king right behind him. There were two throne-like seats on the platform they were stood on, clearly for the two kings. There was nowhere for anyone else to sit, unless people felt like sitting on the ground. And Finral would probably object to that. Obviously, they hadn't considered that people might want to sit down in between matches. "You will be able to use all of your skills to your heart's content." well, that was basically permission to see how much of the tournament grounds he could set on fire.

"Yes, sir!" Asta yelled, the only person to actually respond. Would Finral be upset and/or annoyed if he pulled the idiot's hood down over his face again? Probably. Shame, it might actually get him to stop yelling for once.

"The matchups for the initial round have been chosen by lottery and organised into the bracketed chart you see here." Marx's grimoire glowed as the Wizard King spoke, the air behind them filling up with the tournament brackets. Magna could see a clear path to victory, though he'd have to beat some of his squad along the way.

_A. Asta, Xerx, Sol_

_B. Curtis, Rick, Forti_

_C. Cesc, Adrian, Willie_

_D. Leo, Hamon, Puli_

_E. Borja, Kyle, Gaston_

_F. Gareth, Simon, Medio_

_G. Solice, Alecdora, Dimitri_

_H. Yuno, Noelle, En_

_I. Luck, Klaus, X_

_J. Laurent, Winsley, Nicks_

_K. Kirsh, Nills, Ruben_

_L. Magna, Mimosa, Sekke_

_M. Rob, Francis, Winston_

_N. Rai, Mark, Weiss_

_O. Ben, Brad, Eric  
_

_P. Finral, Langris, Fragil_

He just had to win the first match, and then he'd get to fight Luck. While he fought Luck regularly, there was a difference between their usual spars and arguments over pudding and going all out in a proper arena with proper stakes. He couldn't wait.

"Though winning or losing doesn't necessarily correlate to being chosen for the Royal Knights, more victories will increase your favourability." the Wizard king continued. Translation; the more you win, the more chances there are to show off and the more you show off the more likely you are to be chosen for the Royal Knights. "this is an ideal chance for you all to put your talents on display." Magna was intending to do more than just put his talents on display. he was going to beat Luck and, after Luck, fight Finral and his little brother and then he was going to fight Asta or Noelle in the finals. He was also going to see how much of the grounds he could set on fire, but that was a secondary thing. "Magic Knights, it's time to start the exam!"

"Yikes, I'm in the first battle and everything," Asta said, looking at his two teammates. Magna felt a bit sorry for him. The guy who'd made a very late, and very loud, entrance and was supposedly the vice-captain of the Purple Orcas was one. Yami did _not_ like that squad after what happened with their last captain so it was probably a good thing he wasn't there. The other was a Blue Rose Knight who kept glaring at them both.

"Attacking your opponents directly is allowed," yes, that meant Magna could hit Luck with everything he had without any consequences, "and, although this should go without saying, there is to be absolutely no killing," that was a shame. Putting the fear of death into the people he was up against was half the fun, though it probably wouldn't be as much fun without Luck anyway. "we have mages wielding recovery magic standing by for the injured, so don't hold anything back." Magna wasn't planning to. Next to him, Luck giggled, lightning sparking off him as he practically vibrated with excitement. Magna grinned. This was gonna be fun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not supposed to be Luck POV for the entire chapter, but he refused to let anyone else narrate. It was also supposed to be up last night, but he just wouldn't stop talking.

"Good luck Asta!" Luck yelled as his squadmate headed down to the battlegrounds. "Kick their asses!" Asta waved back as he left, his teammates right behind him.

Something was off with that Purple Orcas guy. Finral's had said that he had an ice affinity, but to Luck's mana sense it felt far more ashy than cold, closer to how Magna's mana felt than Noelle's. It seemed solid enough to stand on but also like it would slip through his fingers the moment he tried to pick it up. There were traces of that same mana all over the field, trap spells from the look of things. Someone had clearly known where the exam would be taking place before everyone else did then.

Asta's second teammate was harder to describe. She had Earth magic, that was easy enough to figure out. But- it was less _Earth_ and more _Rock_ , like someone had tried to break up the ground with a hammer rather than a shovel. Her mana felt like someone used to doing the big, obvious thing, but not quite someone who _couldn't_ do subtle.

Mana could tell you a lot about a person, unfortunately, most people didn't know how to read it properly. Like how Magna's small but controlled fire meant that he knew what he was doing with the little he had.

Asta himself didn't really feel like anything, he faded into the background like natural mana did, but his swords were another story. It was like someone had taken the never-ending darkness of Captain Yami's magic and mixed it with the cold void Finral's portals left behind. As otherworldly as their mana could feel sometimes, Asta's swords were just unnatural, like how the guy in the dungeon with both crystal and fire just felt _wrong_. There was a warmth to Captain Yami's darkness, for the Black Bulls at least, there was a clear end to Finral's cold voids in space. Asta's swords had neither warmth nor a clear end, the negative mana--because that was the best way Luck could think of to describe it--just sort of faded away, like it was trying to blend into the natural mana of the world but not quite managing it. It seemed friendly though, or as friendly as something unnatural could be. It didn't seem to hurt the Black Bulls after all.

Asta's opponent's mana and magic affinities were all fairly basic.

There was the scorching heat of Fire from one of them, far more impressive in size than Magna's campfire like flame, but something far, far harder to control to any great degree. That was the problem Noelle had, on a far larger scale of course. Too much mana to properly control without a great deal of practice. She was getting good at it though.

Another had Earth, not as solid as a mountain and sturdier than Asta's teammate's Earth, but more clay-like than most. Dried clay at that, someone who stuck with what they knew rather than trying to push their limits. Boring. He'd rather fight Magna and his determination to constantly improve than someone stuck in their ways.

The third guy had crystal magic. it was similar to Gauche's in that it was cool to the touch, but it was far, far weaker than the crystal magic the fire-crystal- _wrong_ guy in the dungeon had had. His had felt like diamonds, the guy out on the field felt like quartz.

Asta's team were going to win. No doubt about it.

It wasn't that the older magic knights lacked strength, they were strong, the Black Bulls were just in a league of their own when it came to battle techniques. Unpredictable chaos that really shouldn't work but somehow did was their speciality. On top of that, Asta didn't know how to quit. And, thanks to extended exposure to him, none of the rest of the Black Bulls did either. The winners of the tournament would have a Black Bull on their team. Luck could say that much for certain.

A cry from Asta brought his attention back to the current battle. Asta's team's crystal had a hole in it. Well, that wasn't good. Asta's male teammate--the guy whose mana felt more like Ash than Ice--looked like he was going to sleep. Had they really just stood around arguing rather than planning or heading out to start the fight? That was stupid of them. Hiding their damaged crystal in the Earth girl's golem was a good idea though, he had to admit that. Charging at the enemy when Asta had no way of knowing where they were and Earth girl clearly wasn't telling him, on the other hand, was stupid. Very stupid. Ambushes made for terrible fights to the death. Unless Luck was the one doing the ambushing, of course. Then it was fun. Especially if he had Magna with him.

Asta ran forwards, his anti-magic cutting through an attack and the crystal guy on the opposing team almost fell out of his tree in shock. Asta's Anti-magic was seriously good at throwing people off, especially when they'd never seen it before. Asta's current opponents clearly had no idea what to do once their magic was cancelled. Luck's opinion of the opposing team went down. Sure, high levels of mana and skilled control were good and all, but it was a bit useless against someone like Asta if there was no other way to fight him available to use. In Captain Yami's words, high mana doesn't stop someone from having a glass jaw. If the Black Bulls hadn't already learned their lesson about going against Captain Yami with his physical training then they would have stopped arguing when Asta showed up. Getting punched by Asta hurt. Course, Luck got hit far less than Magna did. Magna really needed to work on his speed.

Oh, Asta had just triggered a trap in the middle of the battlefield. That was silly of him, especially seeing as it was one of his teammate's traps. He really needed to learn how to spot those. All three of the other team readied attacks to use against Asta, Earth girl and the crystal, but Luck's attention got stolen by the fact that the Ashy sleeping guy had finally woken up.

More traps sprang to life and, that was a seriously cool spell to be able to double an enemies attack and send it straight back at them. Luck had to wonder if the Ash guy would be willing to teach him how to do it.

"Crystal Destroyed! Team A wins!" Aww, he'd been so busy thinking about learning trap magic that he'd missed Asta destroying the crystal. That was a shame.

"Well, that's a victory for the Black Bulls!" Magna cheered as Asta came back triumphant. "Let's keep it up!"

Black Bulls: 1

Everyone Else: 0

* * *

Luck had a good idea of who'd win the next match before the teams even took to the field. One side had someone with almost as much power as Noelle. Worst came to worst, he could just obliterate the other side with sheer overwhelming power.

The strong guy had Fire magic, just like Magna did, a raging inferno that was somehow both lawless and controlled at the same time, a feat Luck had only ever seen from Noelle and her only just holding dam of Water magic before. He was a blazing bonfire, the air around his was scorching even without any extreme emotions spilling over into his mana. Fighting that guy when he was angry would be super fun.

The second person on the team had Glass magic. It felt slightly warmer than Gauche's Mirror magic, but not by much. It also felt far more fragile, like one wrong move could shatter it all rather than just cracking it.

The third person on the team felt like feathers. Luck wasn't sure how else to describe it. Her magic was soft fluffy feathers, but also sharp ones that hurt. It was strange, he'd never run into mana that felt like that before. It was close to Feather magic and Wind magic, but not quite either of them. Did she have some sort of combination of the two?

The other team, just like Asta's opponents, were far less impressive.

The first member of the team had copper magic. The metallic magic was similar to the Golden Dawn guy with Steel magic from the dungeon but softer. Far softer. Far more conducive though. If Luck were to use his Lightning magic, it'd just go straight through.

The second guy had Mud magic. Earth, but wetter. It was sticky and almost sludge-like. Malleable but unable to hold a form for any great length of time.

The third and final guy on that team had Water magic. It was nowhere near as strong as Noelle's was though. A trickling stream compared to her raging waterfall of mana.

Yeah, the Fire guy's team were going to win.

The fire guy and his spiral flames were strong, far stronger than anything Magna could muster, but there was very little control to it. Just a raging twister of fire. It tore straight through the creatures the Copper guy created. Luck was pretty sure he'd prefer trying to dodge all of Magna's fireballs to the twister. It was big and powerful, but easy enough to avoid with enough speed.

The Glass guy had pulled up a barricade around their crystal, but it probably wouldn't last long. He could probably break it with one hit. Clearly designed as a short-term defence rather than anything long term.

The lady, on the other hand- oh. Wing magic. That was interesting. So she could fly and send feathers and wind at people? That was so cool! What would fighting her be like? Was there a limit to her speed? Magna had a limit to his speed.

"Crystal destroyed! Team D wins!"

* * *

The third match of the round was just boring. Nobody with any particular skill on the field. Oh, sure, they were all ranked higher than him but he'd beat them easily. Especially if he had Magna with him. None of them had any new magic either, there wasn't even anyone using it in an interesting or unique way. Boring!

"Crystal Destroyed! Team F wins!" Ooh, Noelle was in the next one!

* * *

"Come on Noelle!" Asta yelled, punching the air "You can do this!" Noelle, Luck knew, was going up against her older brother. From what he'd seen of the older Silva, Noelle's brother was an asshole. Acting all superior when in reality, he had less mana that she did, though Luck didn't think anyone else had realised that fact just yet.

"Kick his ass!" Magna cried. One of Noelle's teammates was Asta's childhood friend, he'd been on the dungeon mission too. he was also really strong. Hopefully, Luck would get to fight in the finals, though fighting Asta wouldn't be too bad. Just a bit of a disappointment, he got to fight Asta pretty much every day after all.

"Don't hold back just because he's your brother," Finral added, glancing over his shoulder at his own brother. That was another match Luck was looking forwards too, fighting Finral and his little brother. Fighting Finral was always fun, the few times he'd managed to convince the spatial mage to join in. Having Finral's little brother there too should make it even more fun!

"Show them what the Black Bulls can do!" Luck cheered. The rest of the squads had been calling them the worst for years, had claimed that they cheated to come second in the Star Festival. It was high time they showed who the best squad really was. It was a shame that the others weren't there to show their support, but it'd be fun to tell them all about it later. Noelle smiled

"Thanks, guys," she said, "I won't let you down!"

Luck knew Noelle's mana. It lingered around the base and clung to things, just like everyone else's did. It was wet and warm and felt like relaxing in a nice hot bath after a long day. it felt like that when she was calm at least. Noelle's mana in battle was something else entirely, it was still Water though, still their Noelle. Where it was usually calm and soft, it battle it turned hard and cold and started raging. it was times like that, when Noelle let her poise and graces fall away to reveal the angry girl ready to fight the world underneath, that Luck was reminded that water could erode rock if given enough time. That Water always chose the quickest path possible. The more water there was and the faster it was moving, the quicker the rocks fell. And, at the point in time, a match with her asshole brother looming over her, the proper little princess Noelle tried to be had vanished. Noelle was more than a royal, or a Silva. She was a Black Bull. And she was out to _win_.

One of her two teammates was Asta's friend. Luck remembered him from the dungeon. He had Wind magic. _Strong_ Wind magic. And, if the Star Festival and the Wizard King were to be believed, which they probably were, he had one of the four great nature spirits with him. The Wind Spirit, Sylph. His mana was cold. Cold but not harsh, closer to a breeze rather than a gale. Luck had no doubt that, just like Noelle and her Water, just like the natural wind, it could change very quickly. He had an awful lot of magic for a commoner though, more than Luck would have expected someone from Hage, all the way out in the sticks, to have. They generally had Magna, Gordon and Grey levels of mana. Not Captain Yami, Finral and Gauche levels of mana. Interesting.

Noelle's second teammate was an unknown. He was a Green Praying Mantis and his magic was- unusual. It was damp, but not damp at the same time. A plant but not quite. It was very fungus-like if he had to put a word to it. He could do his best to get rid of it, but it would always come crawling back eventually. He'd definitely be someone to watch out for in a long, drawn-out battle.

The opposing team, on the other hand, were far less interesting.

One was Noelle's asshole brother. His mana was similar to hers, but colder and nowhere near as strong. A lesser river. Or a sea to her ocean. His was calmer than hers though, Noelle's mana only ever appeared calm on the surface, hiding the roiling bubbles underneath. His was calm all the way through. Clearly, someone was happy with the world and his place in it. He was also, going by the grin on his face, confident he would win. Well, watching Noelle wipe that look off his face would be fun. Luck had thought that the Captain of the Silver Eagles would have warned his little brother about their sister's increase in strength, but apparently not. Looks like someone was going to have to learn the hard way then.

The second person on the team had an Earthy feeling magic type. Softer than Earth Girl's from Asta's team, but far more solid than any sort of mud or clay. Almost sandy in texture really. He was also from the Golden Dawn and was glaring at Asta's friend. Going by his mana levels, the Sandstone guy was a noble. Probably someone who thought that Asta's friend, as a commoner, had forgotten his place. Watching Asta's friend kick his ass would also be fun.

Their third teammate had Fire magic. Just like Magna. But, while he had more mana than Magna, Luck had no doubt that Magna was more skilled. Though, if Luck was being fair, finding a Fire mage with more skill and precision than Magna would be hard. Magna was very good at mana control, he had to be to fire off as many fireballs as he did.

The teams headed down to the field and Luck watched with wide eyes as Noelle's opponents instantly started with a combo transport spell, leaving their crystal undefended. That seemed like both a smart strategy and a stupid one. They were aiming to eliminate Noelle#s crystal in one attack, but if they failed their crystal would be left undefended.

Unsurprisingly, the attack failed.

Of course, it failed, Noelle was a _Black Bull_. The only thing that could beat a team with a Black Bull in this tournament, was a team with another Black Bull.

Noelle's asshole brother was going _down_.

The opposing team ended up breaking formation to try when faced with the overwhelming power combo that was Noelle and Asta's friend. Just like the team that fought Asta's, they had no idea what to do against the Black Bull on the field. He'd heard the whispers earlier, heard people trying to figure out what they could and couldn't do. The problem with that was, not even the Black Bulls knew what they could do half the time. Luck certainly hadn't known how useful Finral could be in a fight until Asta, Noelle and Vanessa recounted their battle against Vetto in the Underwater Temple while they were all recovering. he was mildly upset that he'd been knocked out for that part of the fight. It sounded like fun. But he didn't regret the combo attack with Magna. If they'd been up against anyone else, that move would have decimated them. He couldn't wait to use it in a fight again.

Oh, Noelle had broken away from her team to try and destroy her asshole brother's crystal. Said asshole brother was chasing her. Asta's friend, on the other hand, had their teams crystal and was being pursued by the Sandstone guy from the Golden Dawn. The armour was impressive, a spell that was both offensive and defensive was hard to get but also damn hard to beat. Luck knew his own armour improved his speed and durability as well as making attacking easier.

Asta's friend destroyed it with a single blow.

Luck couldn't _wait_ to fight that guy. Asta's friend summoned a tornado _inside_ his opponent's spell. The amount of mana and control needed to do that was immense and, most people who actually had the skills rarely realised that that was a thing they could do. To make a spell inside someone else's mana, either the target needed to be really relaxed or the caster had to have an absolute ton of mana.

While Asta's friend was absolutely decimating his teammate, Noelle's asshole brother had summoned a sea serpent made out of water. It was probably impressive, but next to Noelle's Sea Dragon's Roar, it looked tiny and pathetic. Luck could feel his panic and disbelief from the stands, as well as Noelle's calm confidence. Noelle had come to the Black Bulls as a failure who couldn't control her magic. Her problem, unlike what everyone assumed, wasn't because she had too little mana, but because she had too _much_. The Black Bulls had supported Noelle on her journey to learn how to harness that mana into the overwhelming force she was growing to be and, along the way, they'd discovered that Noelle's spine wasn't made of silver or gold but solid steel. Noelle Silva was a racing ocean of power, it had been high time that she learned to embrace that.

"Hey, Solid," she said to her asshole brother, the Water Dragon looming over them both as he scrambled back in panic, spouting protests and statements of disbelief. "you might wanna block."

"Crystal destroyed! Team G wins!"

Black Bulls: 2

Everyone Else: 0


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's a bit late. Saying this chapter gave me trouble is an understatement. Nobody wanted to cooperate. The next one should be up sooner though.

Klaus pushed his glasses up as his team's letter was called. He was on a team with Luck the Cheery Berseker, the boy who challenged a captain during the entrance exam. His other teammate, the mysterious 'X', had yet to show their face. There was no way that this was going to end well.

"Excuse me," it was rude to interrupt what the announcer was saying, but there was no way that Klaus was going to go out and fight against three older mages with nothing but Luck the Cheery Berserker as backup. "I have a question."

"What is it?" the announcer asked, clearly caught off guard by Klaus' interruption.

"We, that is Luck and I, are supposed to be on a team with this 'X', but we have no idea who they are or if they're even present," Klaus said, pushing his glasses up again.. He'd rather be on a team with Asta and his anti-magic, if he had to work with the Black Bulls again, or Noelle, her power was formidable indeed. The Vice-Captain would be incredibly useful and Klaus was sure that even the delinquent would be better than Luck's cheerful bloodlust. Hopefully, this mysterious 'X' would be someone sane.

"I don't understand what the holdup is," the King said, turning around in his chair to glare at them. "find your third team member or you'll be disqualified!"

"Aww," Luck said, "I wanna fight." he turned to his delinquent friend "hey, Magna, if my team gets disqualified, can I join yours?" the fire mage laughed, rolling his eyes as Luck punched the air.

"Pretty sure that's against the rules, Luck," he said, laughing as the lightning mage deflated slightly.

"Aww."

"Er, right," the announcer said, and clearly there were very few people there who knew how to react to the madness that was the Black Bulls. "if the Magic Knight 'X' is present, please step forwards so that we can proceed!" there was a moment of silence so the announcer tried again "'X'?"

There was a laugh from behind them, a blond man with a face that looked almost painted on practically rolling forwards.

"I am the 'X' you seek!" he announced, and Klaus had no idea how to respond as the man's face started glowing and melting. That was not a thing that faces normally did. Several of the other knights jumped back in shock, not the Black Bulls though, they all watched with what was probably morbid curiosity as magic started swirling.

"Just kidding!" the voice had changed, higher-pitched and far more cheery than before. "it's me, Captain Rill Boismortier! You guys should have seen your faces!" Rill Bosimortier, the teenage captain. The youngest person to ever make it to captain, only a year older than Klaus and Luck and obsessed with creating his masterpieces. Great. That wasn't to say that Captain Rill was weak, he wasn't Both of Klaus' teammates were exceptionally strong, but it was looking more and more like he'd have to carry the team on his own whilst Captain Rill painted and Luck fought everything that moved. Just great.

"It's Rill, the Aqua Deer Captain! Why's he here?" Asta asked, his eyes wide, and the familiarity in the way he addressed Captain Rill implied that he'd met the painting mage before.

"I'm confused," Noelle said, and Klaus was certain that she wasn't the only one.

"Wait, don't tell me there's a rule against captains participating in the exam!" Captain Rill cried, and, surely he should have checked that before signing up?

"That's not the case at all," the Wizard King stated, a smile on his face. That was good. Klaus didn't particularly want to get disqualified. "you are welcome here." Captain Rill visibly relaxed, smiling back at his superior.

"Yay!" Luck said, bouncing up and down, clapping his hands "Now we get to fight! Just you wait, Magna. I'm going to kick your ass next round."

"Oh yeah? You can try!" the fire mage shot back, "but I'm going to be the one kicking your ass." a small fire flickered to life in his hands as lightning started sparking off Luck.

"I've got a captain on my team."

"Yeah, well, I've got a royal!" two small portals snapped open, swallowing both attacks before they could reach their intended targets.

"Will you two stop fighting each other for five minutes?" the Vice-Captain of the Black Bulls asked, sounding tired. "you can do that next round."

"Yeah, but whoever wins gets to fight you." Luck said, massive grin still present on his face, reminding Klaus that, after this fight, every opposing team they were likely to face had a Black Bull on it.

"You never join in sparring unless Captain Yami makes you," Magna added and Klaus had to wonder just what the Vice-Captain of the Black Bulls was capable of to have his team so eager to fight him. Vice-Captain Finral groaned.

"Everyone's accounted for," the King snapped before the Black Bulls could continue "so get on with it!" the Wizard King nodded, standing up

"No need to worry, competitors" the Wizard King announced, clearly trying to quell the muttering that had been going on since Captain RIll showed his face. "this of this as your chance to make a strong impression by defeating a captain!" that seemed to encourage the other competitors, if the increase in pledges to win were to go by. Klaus mentally rolled his eyes. There were four stacked teams on the field that were still in play, his own, Asta's, which had Asta's anti-magic and a Vice-Captain, Yuno's, with had both Yuno and Noelle and their royal levels of mana, and Langris', which had _two_ Vice-Captains on it, and brothers with the same magic affinity at that. One of those teams was going to be the winner. There was no doubt about it.

"I'm doing this to give the Aqua Deer and rankings boost after we came in last at the Star Festival," Captain Rill said, and that had to have been embarrassing, for all the teams that got beaten by the Black Bulls, but for the Aqua Deer especially, "so you'd better believe I'm not going down without a fight today!"

"Such determination!" an elderly voice called. Klaus blinked as a man appeared from- somewhere. Klaus wasn't exactly sure where, but he certainly hadn't been there before. "You're a great inspiration, Young Master. I'm quite moved." was- was that a butler? How had a butler ended up at a Magic Knight exam? "everyone I implore you to look kindly upon Rill during this competition." Captain Rill laughed again.

"Oh, Walt, stop being so stuffy!" Klaus was sure that the butler had more to say, but he didn't get the chance.

"It's time to continue!" the announcer interrupted, and Klaus was relieved to actually step out onto the field. he had Captain Rill and Luck the Cheery Berserker on his team. There was no way he was going to lose.

"Alright!" Captain Rill and Luck both cheered as they headed down.

"I can't wait to paint my next masterpiece!"

"This is gonna be so much fun!"

* * *

Klaus did not like his team. Oh, sure, they were almost guaranteed victory, but neither of them knew how to work as a team or cooperate in any way, shape or form that Klaus could see.

Luck didn't even wait for the announcer to finish talking, taking off across the field before the man had even listed the name of the competitors in that round. Battle freak. Klaus wasn't sure how the Black Bulls managed to get _anything_ done while corralling him.

Klaus' second teammate, Captain Rill, was close behind, though he actually waited for the match to officially start before running off. A small improvement, but not by much. He was going to have to talk to them both about teamwork and strategy before the next match.

Klaus, unlike his reckless teammates, decided that the best move would be to stay behind and guard the crystal whilst Luck and Captain RIll fought the opposing team. Clover knew that neither of them would remember to protect it.

He watched with wide eyes as Captain Rill ran straight into a trap spell, vines shooting out of the ground and wrapping him up in a large knot. Had he not bothered to check for traps? Such a foolish move. The Captain started wailing, crying for help and Klaus felt like groaning. This- _this_ was the Captain of the Aqua Deer? A boy only a year older than Klaus himself who didn't even stop think look or think before running straight into a trap? He was strong, he had to be to make it to captain, but Klaus had to wonder why the Wizard King thought it was a good idea to make someone little more than a child a captain. Not that Klaus would ever voice his thoughts, of course. To do so would be disrespectful and show a lack of faith and trust in the Wizard King's decisions.

Luck laughed as he ran past the trapped Captian Rill, lightning condensing around his legs to create boots made of lightning, power sparking off them with every move.

"Lightning Magic: Thunderbolt Destruction!" Luck cried as he jumped into the air, aiming at the mage on the roof of the building and laughing as he dodged the vines that shot back towards him. A pointless endeavour. Luck the Cheery Berserker was one of the fastest people in all of the Magic Knight squads, and he would only get faster with time. An attack that he could see coming a mile away was pointless.

The other two members of the opposing team sent their ice and fire towards Captain Rill. They were impressive attacks, Klaus had to admit, but neither of them worked.

"Painting Magic: Twin Storms of Fire and Ice!" the twisting columns of fire and water, aimed to counter the ice and fire attacks respectively, were huge. Neither mage stood a chance against Captain Rill's overwhelming power.

Laughing, Luck ran in past the defeated mages and punched the third one in the face before smashing the crystal.

"Crystal destroyed! Team I wins!"

Right. Next time he was making one of them guard the crystal.

* * *

"We kicked ass!" Luck cheered as they reached the viewing platform after their victory "Hey, Magna, did you see me?" he asked, heading straight towards the fire mage, who was stood with the rest of the Black Bulls.

"Sure did!" Magna grinned, hooking an arm over Luck's shoulder and ruffling his hair. "That's three victories for the Black Bulls, at this rate, we're gonna win this thing!"

"You'd better not let the squad down" Luck laughed, chowing the fire mage away as the next match was announced, "go kick ass!" Magna waved as he headed down to the field, Mimosa and the Green Praying Mantis with him.

"Are they always like that?" Klaus asked, having found himself stood next to the Vice-Captain of the Black Bulls, Finral Roulacase.

"No," the Vice-Captain said, only half watching the various members of his squad "there's usually a lot more destruction." Klaus could feel Vice-Captain Langris glaring at the and he had to wonder how long it would take before one of the brothers snapped and actually did something about the mounting tension between them. There wasn't really any more time for talk after that, however, as the match below had started in earnest and Klaus was determined to not miss a thing of any of Mimosa or Yuno's fights.

he would admit that the opposing team concerned him though. Kirsh Vermillion, Vice-Captain of the Coral Peacocks was the only noteworthy one, as the only royal on the team as well as the highest-ranked and therefore the strongest. He was also Mimosa's older brother.

"If you're worried about your junior, don't be," Vice-Captain Finral said as the match started in earnest. "Magna's a lot stronger than most people realise or give him credit for. I'm sure Lady Mimosa is too." there was no mention of their third teammate, but Klaus was sure that the Green Praying Mantis was as much of an unknown to the spatial mage as he was to Klaus himself.

"It's not that," Klaus admitted, though Vice-Captain Finral's words were reassuring, "she's fighting her older brother." Klaus had no siblings, younger or older, he couldn't imagine what it would be like to fight one but he felt like his relationship with Mimosa and Yuno was something close to or at least similar to a sibling bond and he was sure that, unless they asked, he wouldn't be able to fight them with the intention of doing whatever it took to win.

"I highly doubt that that will stop either of them," Vice-Captain Finral said as the field was covered in cherry blossom petals. Vice-Captain Kirsh's work, no doubt. "it certainly didn't stop Noelle and ber brother. It isn't going to stop Asta and Yuno and they're basically brothers." he paused, and Klaus had to admit that the Vice-Captain had a point. "I wouldn't hold back against mine." the last part was quieter, but Klaus still caught it. He didn't know the full story of the sons of House Vaude, none of the Golden Dawn were willing to talk about it where Vice-Captain Langris might hear them, but he'd heard enough rumours to know that it was neither a pretty nor a happy one.

"Vice-Captain Kirsh is a formidable opponent," Klaus said and then, as an afterthought "even if he is a narssicist." the spatial mage laughed and Klaus was reminded that he was talking to a Vice-Captain, even if he never reminded people of his title and, according to the rumours, often tried to protest it. Vice-Captain Finral probably knew exactly how narcissistic Vice-Captain Kirsh could be from meetings.

"Magna doesn't know when to quit." Vice-Captain Finral said softly, a hint of pride clear in his voice. "he may have less mana than most of the people here, but he's got amazing control. With Lady Mimosa backing him up, I'm sure they'll win." as Vice-Captain Finral spoke, fire bloomed in the middle of the field, shooting up through the cherry blossoms, carrying fragments of the crystal with it.

"Crystal destroyed! Team L wins!"

"See." Vice-Captain Finral said, and Klaus had to wonder what it would be like to be that confident in his own squad. To be able to watch a Fifth Class Junior take on a First Class Senior and say without a doubt that the Junior would win.

The Black Bulls really were a mystery.

* * *

Finral didn't pay any attention to the next match, though he probably should as he'd likely be fighting one of the teams next round. There just didn't seem to be much of a point, none of his squad were fighting and he was far too busy trying to figure out a way to work with Langris without anyone actually getting hurt. Langris didn't like him, Finral knew that, but he wasn't just going to let his little brother push him around. He'd come too far for that. He and Langris were a team. They had to work together.

"Crystal destroyed! Team M wins!"

"Try not to get caught in my magic down there." Langris said as he approached, Fragil behind him "if that happened, forget about what it would do to Mother and Father, I'm sure that a certain someone would be very upset." Finral scowled as Langris mentioned Finesse, the last threads of his patience finally snapping. He'd had enough. In the past few months, he'd;

\- Almost died in the cave at Nean,

\- Almost been kidnapped by the former Vice-Captain of the Purple Orcas

\- Almost died _multiple times_ fighting Vetto of the Third Eye in the Underwater Temple

\- Learned that he could be useful in a fight

\- Portalled out of a strong magic region and then across half the country

 _\- Actually_ died in the Witches Forest with only Vanessa' new spell to change and control fate saving his life.

\- Successfully launched an attack on a room full of captains and got away with it.

Finral had had enough. As far as most people were concerned, he was the Vice-Captain of the Black Bulls, the same rank ad Langris. He was done standing there and passively letting himself be insulted.

_Spatial Magic: Fallen Angel's Gate_

The portal opened up beneath Langris without warning, dropping the Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn on his ass next to their crystal out on the field. Enjoying the shock of the crowd, he quickly created another for himself and Fragil, hopping through and joining Langris without a word.

"You don't like me," Finral said as Langris stood up, glaring at him "fine. I've never really acted like a big brother should, but if you could at least pretend that you can stand the sight of me for one day so that we can win this thing, that would be great." his words made his little brother flinch for some reason. Probably the reminder that they were brothers. Langris never had liked it when people brought that particular fact up.

Langris was the superior brother, he knew that, Father and Mother Liliane had never really let him forget it, but there was one thing that Finral could do that Langris couldn't. He could make portals. And yeah, they weren't attack spells. Finral had been trying for ages and still hadn't managed a single attack spell, he probably never would, but his portals were still useful in a fight. The Underwater Temple showed that. _He_ was still useful in a fight.

"Fine," Langris said, glaring at the ground, and Finral felt a bit sorry for Fragil, caught in between them and their history. "what do you suggest then?" it sounded like it pained him to follow something that Finral had come up with. It probably did.

"Fragil, if you wouldn't mind guarding the crystal, I'm going to go have a look for the enemy and theirs. Once I've located them, Langris, I can portal you straight to it and you can use your spatial magic to destroy it." he looked between his two teammates. "unless either of you have a better idea?"

"No," Langris admitted, clearly reluctantly "I don't. But, if this fails and we lose..." he didn't need to finish the threat, a small ball of his destructive spatial magic forming next to him. Finral understood.

"Right. Got it." if they failed, Langris would most likely take it out on him. Good to know. On the bright side, that was an incentive to not lose. While Finral knew he could counter Langris' spells with his own spatial magic, Langris had far more mana than him and Finral would inevitably lose.

"Match, start!" the moment the announcement was made, Finral was opening a portal high up in the air, jumping through without any hesitation. If he wanted to be able to see the enemy's crystal, he had to be up high. He twisted in his free fall, scanning the arena as he hopped through portal after portal in midair, enjoying the gasps of horror and surprise from the spectators, as well as his squad's cheers.

There! Partway up a cliff, the light glinted off the crystal. Finral grinned, letting himself drop towards the ground to a chorus of screams. At the last moment, he opened an inverted portal, flinging himself back up into the air. Showing off was fun and not something he got to do anywhere near as often as he'd like. the Black Bulls had already seen him training multiple times, and missions really weren't the time for unnecessary manoeuvres.

The look on Lagris' face when he landed next to his little brother and Fragil was the best one though. The Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn looked horrified, staring at him like he'd grown a second head.

"And here I thought you'd grown out of your insanity. Apparently not" Langris said, clearly remembering all the stupid things Finral had dragged him into when they were younger. "still, did you find it?" Finral laughed. His chaos may have been mostly stamped out when they were younger, but the Black Bulls had brought it back soon enough. Besides, being insane was practically part of the requirements for joining the Black Bulls.

"Yep. Ready to win this?" Langris smiled back, fondness clear in his eyes and Finral had forgotten how much he missed his little brother looking at him like that, how much he'd missed being on the same side as Langris rather than against each other. He'd thought that Langris hated him, but maybe there was still a chance to repair what was broken between them.

"Of course."

* * *

"Crystal destroyed! Team P wins!"

* * *

"That was quite the display," the Wizard King said as they stepped through a portal to arrive back at the stands. "though, I'd appreciate it if you tried to avoid almost giving half of the spectator's heart attacks next time." Finral laughed, rubbing the back of his head. Yeah, he probably should have toned it down a bit, but he was having fun.

"Sorry, ti was the quickest way to find the crystal" he apologised sheepishly. It wasn't his fault that the Magic Knights watching weren't prepared to see him jump through the air like that.

"That was amazing Finral!" Asta was in his face, Luck and Magna right behind him, though Noelle was keeping her distance. "i knew you were good, but not that good. Where did you learn how to do that?" Finral opened his mouth to respond, with something other than the truth because there was no way his squad would ever let it die if they knew, but Langris beat him to it.

"He jumped off the roof when he was nine trying to see if he could fly." the Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn stated flatly, and Finral could already see Luck and Magna trying to figure out what to do with that information.

"Okay, one, I was ten-" Finral tried to protest, but nobody was listening to him.

"And you say _you're_ the sane one?" Magna asked, shoving Asta out the way to be the one right in front of Finral's face. "Jumping off the roof as a kid puts you right up there with Luck, you know."

"I am _not_ as bad as Luck" Finral protested, because he wasn't. So he liked the adrenaline of falling from a height. So what? At least he wasn't rushing blindly into battle and challenging every strong person he came across "besides, you've seen me practice before."

"Not fifty feet in the air!" absently, Finral noticed several other Magic Knights backing away from their small group. He laughed.

For too long, they've been considered the weakest squad, weaknesses and liabilities on the field.

It felt good to prove them all wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late, Magna did not want to cooperate this chapter. Not gonna lie though, I do feel sorry for him. Someone give this boy a hug.

"And the first match of the second round" the announcer called after the Wizard King had finished scolding Finral for his, quite frankly, insane stunt. "is Team A vs Team D!" Asta vs the Fire Royal. Well, that promised to be entertaining at least.

"You've got this, Asta," Finral said, smiling and he pushed some of his stupid-looking hair out of his eyes. Why had he changed his hairstyle? It looked ridiculous. Still, Magna should support his teammates in their decisions, even if those decisions are stupid.

"Yeah, he may be a Royal, but you're a Black Bull!" he said. Those anti-magic swords of his made him one of their harder to combat members too, the only people more annoying to try and hit in a fight were Luck with his speed and Finral with his portals. "Kick his ass!"

"I want to fight either you or Noelle in the finals!" Luck added and, damnit, did he have to smile so widely all the time? It hurt to look at sometimes.

"If you lose, I'm never talking to you again," Noelle said, as blunt as ever. Magna doubted that Asta would lose, but even if he did, that promise wouldn't last.

"Thanks, guys!" Asta said, a massive smile on his face at their encouragement, or the Black Bulls version of it at any rate. "I'll see you in the semi-finals, Noelle, Yuno!" He called as he ran down to the field. Magna settled down to watch the carnage.

* * *

The royal opened the match with a grand spire of flame, an impressive feat of magic and one Magna would never be able to accomplish, no matter how hard he tried. it didn't matter how hard he tried, how much he trained, he'd never have the mana to do something like that and no amount of control could make up for that. He fought the urge to pull his hood back over his head and hide in its shadows. Hiding his face wouldn't change the fact that the only Magic Knight he could name with less mana than him was _Asta_. It didn't change the fact that he'd never even match Grey's mana levels, never mind Finral or Gauche or Luck. It didn't change the fact that one day Luck would get strong enough that he'd no longer be able to keep up-

An elbow jammed into his ribs, yanking him out of his spiral and Magna turned to see Finral stood there, half looking at him and half watching the match as Asta went toe to toe with the Royal, cutting through and reflecting every grand spire of flames sent his way as his teammates distracted the other two.

"That's an awful lot of mana he's throwing around," Finral said mildly, "he's not exerting any real control over the attack though, just throwing it out almost randomly."

"Wha-"

"The air's heating up," Finral said before Magna could ask anything. Oh, he hadn't realised that he'd been working himself up enough for it to start slipping into his mana. he normally had better control than that, he didn't have the mana to waste, not if he wanted to keep up with Luck. "not all of us can afford to throw vast amounts of mana around so carelessly." Magna was reminded that, though Finral had far more mana than he ever would, it was still a pretty low amount for a noble to have. Hell, Luck probably, no almost definitely, had more mana than Finral did and Luck was a commoner. His mood soured again. It was only a matter of time before Luck outgrew him and their little rivalry. His control was the only reason it'd lasted that long, and sooner or later, no amount of control could make up for a lack of mana.

Magna wasn't sure what he was going to do when that day came.

Speaking of the little shit that was constantly trying to wind him up--Magna ruthlessly stomped on the small voice in the back of his mind wondering how long that would last, he didn't want to think about it, he'd thought about it enough for one day--next to him, Luck was practically bouncing in place as he watched the match below with wide eyes, a burnt part of his robe hitting Magna as he did so. A suspiciously burnt part, actually. It looked just like one of the burns on the robe the little shit had nicked after the Star Festival. Come to think of it, the robe was a bit big on Luck too. The pieces fell together.

"Hang on a minute," he yelled, grateful for the distraction from his spiralling thoughts "that's _my_ robe!" Luck laughed, loud and bright and completely unrepentant.

"Wow, Magna, you really need to work on your observation skills if you're only just noticing." Luck said, static sparking off him as he grinned at Magna. Oh, he really wanted to punch that ever-smiling face. Luck was going to outgrow him one day, that was inevitable, but he could enjoy their rivalry while it lasted.

"It's not enough for you to steal my robe, you have to wear it too?" he demanded, summoning a fireball. He couldn't _wait_ for their match so he could beat the pretty little asshole into the ground.

"It's comfier than mine" Luck said, still grinning, sunlight catching on his hair and making it look gold rather than blond.

"They do know how that sounds, right?" Noelle asked Finral quietly behind them, and Magna paused. Luck clearly hadn't heard them so either he couldn't or he wasn't listening, Magna never really knew with him. Lightning was crackling around the smaller mage as he stared at Magna, his bright blue eyes wide with excitement.

"Who knows. Vanessa thinks Luck's been flirting for months, if not years" and, with one sentence, Finral shattered Magna's view of the world. "but I highly doubt either of them has figured it out." Vanessa, who was _very_ good at spotting crushes, thought Luck had been flirting. With _him_. For _months_. _At least._

The fireball in his hand sputtered and died as Magna stared blankly ahead, not even registering the fight on the battleground in front of him. Opposite him, Luck, the only person that he could actually really see, pouted at the lack of a fight.

Months. Maybe even _years_. His best friend and rival had been flirting with him for _months_. Well, Magna doubted that Luck knew what he was doing. The little shit only admitted that they were friends in the Underwater Temple, he probably just liked the fact that Magna could put up a good fight and would stop when he outgrew what little Magna could muster to challenge him with. That's why he did what he did, why he always stole Magna's food, and why the Lightning mage constantly tried to wind him up, right?

But- the robes- he didn't have an explanation for that. Not for keeping them at least. Magna didn't even know what he did with them, besides wearing them apparently, just that Luck never gave them back.

"Magna?" Luck asked, starting to sound concerned. He was still smiling, but it was a bit dimmer than normal.

"I think he heard us," Noelle said, a faint strain of worry in her voice "did we break him?"

"Hey, Magna?" Luck asked, waving a hand in front of his face "Hello? Clover to Magna?" Magna batted the hand away.

"I'm fine. I just-" he trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Hadn't thought about it like that?" Finral asked.

"Yeah," Magna admitted. Luck was still going to outgrow him one day, that would never change, but he could enjoy this- whatever it was between them while it lasted.

"Good." Noelle said "we didn't break you." like he'd break that easily. Okay, yeah, they'd made him stop and reconsider a few, okay a _lot_ of things, but they hadn't broken him.

"Why would you have broken Magna?" Luck asked, "He's no fun to fight when he's broken."

"I'm not broken!" Magna snapped, summoning the fireball back. "I'm just gathering my mana to punch your face in!"

"Nope" there was a portal in the way, courtesy of Finral. "fighting isn't how we deal with realising our feelings, Magna, especially ones we don't want to deal with." stupid Finral. There weren't any feelings there. Not unless he wanted to count feelings of not being enough, which had always been there.

"Says the guy that dumped his brother on his ass in a moment of pettiness," he said, smirking as Finral's face started turning red.

"That- that was a completely different situation. Besides, I'm your superior!" only technically. Magna knew full well, even if most of the others hadn't figured it out, that Finral wasn't their official vice-captain. Though, that was mostly because their squad was too small to actually need a proper vice-captain.

"And yet, nobody ever listens to you," Noelle said, like she wasn't the worst offender when it came to ignoring Finral. The Spatial mage scowled.

"I can tell Yami you all need one on one training" he threatened, and Magna let the fireball die. No. Oh god, please no. Nobody wanted one on one training with Captain Yami. One on one training with Captain Yami was hell. He didn't understand normal human limits. He didn't stop the training until someone collapsed. And they'd only just finished a round of individual training.

Finral was a monster if he went through with his threat.

Forget overthrowing Captain Yami, they'd need a new vice-captain if Finral carried out his threat.

"Crystal Destroyed! Team A wins!"

"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Asta asked as he returned to the group victorious once more.

"We accidentally broke Magna," Noelle said flatly.

"Hey! I'm not broken!" Magna protested. Having an existential crisis or two didn't mean that he was broken. Sure, Luck was acting weird, and he'd outgrow Magna eventually, which meant that Noelle and Finral and Vanessa were all reading _far_ too much into Luck stealing his stuff but that fact that he only just realised that apparently there was an option of being something more--an impossible, fleeting through that he tried to shove out of his head, Luck would never want someone who couldn't keep up--didn't mean that they'd broken him.

"Anyway!" Finral interrupted before yet another argument could break out "you're up next, Noelle."

"Kick their asses!" Luck cheered

"Yeah, I'm fighting you and Yuno in the semi-finals, Noelle!"

"And I'll be the one in the finals," Noelle said, smiling before joining her teammates in heading down to the field. Magna watched her go, smiling slightly. She'd come far from the prissy princess that had first joined them.

"She's got a point." Finral said as the match below them started, Asta's friend, Yuno, opening it was a blast of wind. "only one of us can win."

"So?" Magna asked, glad for the change in conversation, he didn't want to think about the inevitable any more than he already had that day. "We're still gonna bring home a victory for the Black Bulls." No matter who made it into the final round, as long as Finral and Noelle won their matches, and he had no doubt that they would, there would be a Black Bulls in both teams in the final. The only question was who. "In fact, I'd say the only thing in this competition that can beat a team with a Black Bull, is a team with another Black Bull, right, Luck?"

"Yeah! We're gonna win this thing!"

"That's awfully overconfident, coming from the worst squad." Magna bristled, turning to see the Silver Eagles guy Finral was going to be fighting next staring at them. Next to him, Luck shifted from happy to hostile and Magna stuck out an arm to stop him from charging at the guy.

"Vice-Captain Vitesse." Finral greeted, sounding strained. Oh, that guy was the vice-captain of the Silver Eagles, was he? Magna was going to enjoy watching Finral kick his ass. It was bound to be an entertaining match with three vice-captains on the field.

"You sure we're the worst?" Luck practically snapped, his smile still in place, though it was more teeth than anything else. Not that most people would be able to tell the difference.

"We've yet to lose a match" Asta added, his hand going towards his grimoire.

"I'd say we're wiping the floor with everyone else," Magna said, glaring at the vice-captain of the Silver Eagles. He was said to be the fastest of his squad, but Magna had no doubt that Luck was faster.

"It looks like it's going to be a victory for the Black Bulls." Luck finished, murder clear in his eyes. Magna really didn't want to have to help clean up what would be left of the vice-captain of the Silver Eagles if the guy didn't stop talking, but if he didn't shut up, Magna would stop holding Luck back. The guy smiled. It wasn't a nice one.

"Well. You" he pointed at Luck "have a captain. You." his finger shifted to point at Magna "have a Royal and you two" he gestured between Finral and Asta "both have vice-captains."

"We still pulled our weight out there" Asta protested, anger clear on his face.

* * *

"Yeah!" Magna yelled "and Finral's a vice-captain in his own right!" and Finral wasn't sure how he felt about it. He wasn't the vice-captain. Not really. Sure, everyone called him the vice-captain of the Black Bulls, but that was mostly because he followed Yami everywhere. And he only followed Yami everywhere because Yami found his portals far more convenient that using a broom.

"He's _our_ vice-captain." Luck said, lightning surging as he broke past Magna and started towards the vice-captain of the Silver Eagles.

"Because being the vice-captain of the _Black Bulls_ counts for so much," he said, and Finral felt something in him _snap_. He was fine with people insulting him, used io it even, but nobody insulted his squad in front of him and got away with it.

They'd tried playing nice with the other squads. Tried to get along with them, but that clearly hadn't worked. Time, then, to show the other Magic Knights just what the Black Bulls were capable of.

Finral wasn't stupid, he'd heard the rumours, heard the Noble Realm calling them the monsters in the shadows. They wanted monsters, did they? Then the Black Bulls would show them why they should be scared, they'd give the Noble Realm something to fear. Maybe it would make them think twice before they opened their mouths to tear someone else down.

"Luck, Magna," he called, turning his back on the other Magic Knights as he said their names. The Black Bulls resident chaos duo, more commonly known as the Chaos Bulls, looked at him curiously.

"Yeah, Finral?"

"I was going to tell you two to tone it down during your match, but I changed my mind." For too long, they'd stayed silent while they were mocked and insulted, named the worst and left to rot. They didn't hide in the shadows to protect themselves, not anymore. Instead, they stayed hidden for a completely different reason.

"Crystal destroyed! Team H wins!"

"Push past your limits." Yami picked up the lost and the broken, giving them a place to belong, but sooner or later, they all shed those titles, becoming stronger and stronger with every passing day.

"You mean-" Luck cut himself off, and Finral nodded. it was high time they showed the other squads just what the Black Bulls, the 'worst' squad, the 'weakest' squad, could do.

"Go wild," he said, silently apologising to their teammates. Unleashing Magna and Luck on each other with no limits was a mean thing to do to those that had to work alongside them, especially seeing as none of their teammates had done anything, but he wasn't about to stand around and let Rob Vitesse insinuate that they'd only got as far as they had because of their teammates. On that note, "Noelle, Asta."

"What is it?" Noelle asked, coming over to join them.

"That applied to you two as well. Stop holding back."

"Finral-" Asta started, but Finral wasn't having any of it.

"If that arena isn't in pieces by the end of this competition, I'm telling Yami that you all need more one on one training." Noelle and Asta, who'd had a grand total of one individual training session with Yami so far, paled. Luck and Magna, on the other hand, were both staring at him in abject horror. Which was fair, their individual training had been a _lot_ harsher than Asta and Noelle's had been. The longer someone was a member of the Black Bulls, the more Yami expected of them, after all.

"We- we just finished that."

"You _monster_." Finral couldn't help it. He laughed

* * *

"So, what's the plan?" the Black Bull asked as they walked down to the field. Mimosa hadn't been expecting to work with a commoner during the exam, and a Black Bull at that, but she couldn't deny that he was useful. She doubted that they would have won the match against Kirsh without him. "you gonna protect the crystal again, Mimosa?"

"Yes. I think that would be for the best. Sekke can be the distraction again while you go in for the attack." that had been their strategy last time, and it'd worked. Kirsh had underestimated Magna, as a commoner, and hadn't realised just how much of a threat he was until it was too late. She doubted that the other team, with both Klaus and another Black Bull, would make the same mistake, but it never hurt to try.

"I was gonna do that anyway, I have a score to settle with Luck and Finral's permission to run wild." Mimosa was very suddenly reminded what Klaus had called the pair of Black Bulls on their teams--Luck the Cheery Berserker and Magna the Pyromaniac Delinquent--when they'd run into them on the dungeon mission. The Chaos Bulls.

She wasn't sure she wanted to know what they'd done to earn that moniker, especially when she considered the fact that the Black Bulls as a whole were a chaotic group.

* * *

"Right," Klaus said, glancing between Captain Rill and Luck. "here's the plan. Captain Rill, if you stay behind to guard the crystal, Luck and I will handle the offence."

"Sounds good!" Luck said, his eyes fixed on the opposing team in the distance.

"Alright, if you go for Mimosa, I'll take care of the-"

"No." Luck interrupted "you can fight the Royal and the Green Mantis. Magna's mine." Klaus felt a chill run down his spine at those words.

In the years since he'd joined the Magic Knights, Klaus had run into the pair that ended up being known as the Chaos Bulls multiple times. Magna the Pyromaniac Delinquent and Luck the Cheery Berserker, if there were two Black Bulls out alone, it was almost always them. They were devastating together, cutting swathes through the ranks of their enemies, indiscriminately tearing down anything in their path. And, while he'd seen them argue with each other, those were petty squabbles, where they were both clearly holding back as not to hurt each other.

He wasn't sure he wanted to know what them going all out against each other looked like.

* * *

"Round two, match two, start!"


End file.
